History of The Balkans - Recent History and Current Status (2000 To Present)

Recent History and Current Status (2000 To Present)

Since around 2000, all Balkan countries are friendly towards the EU and the United States.

Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981 and of NATO since 1952. Greece is also a member of the Eurozone and the Western European Union. Slovenia and Cyprus have been EU members since 2004, and Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007. Turkey initially applied in 1963 and as of late 2005 accession negotiations have begun, although analysts believe 2015 is the earliest date the country can join the Union due to the plethora of economic and social reforms it has to complete. Croatia and Macedonia also received candidate status in 2005, while the other Balkan countries have expressed a desire to join the EU but at some date in the future.

On October 17, 2007 Croatia became a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2008-2009 term, while Bosnia and Herzegovina became a non-permanent member for the 2010-2011 period. Croatia has since joined NATO, along with Albania, on April 1, 2009, and both countries also seek admission in the EU in 2009.

In 2004 Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia also became members of NATO.

In 2006, Montenegro separated from the state of Serbia and Montenegro, also making Serbia a separate state. There were fears that this separation would lead to regional instability, but so far this has not happened.

Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008.

Since the 2008 economic crisis, there has been a sense that the former Yugoslav countries are beginning to cooperate on levels that were similar to those in Yugoslavia. The term has coined "Yugosphere" by The Economist as the phenomenon rapidly went from creating a regional train service (Cargo 10) to the proposition of forging the main airlines (JAT, Croatia, Adria).